Davidson eyes Greens co-leader role

Backbench Green MP Marama Davidson has officially announced her bid to be the new co-leader of the Green Party.

The position has been vacant since Metiria Turei resigned last August, but the party’s constitution stipulates there must be a male and female co-leader.

Davidson is the first contender out the gate and has been picked by many as the favourite. Nominations for the position will close next Friday.

The 44-year-old Davidson first entered Parliament in 2015, following the resignation of Russell Norman. Before becoming a politician, she had been a youth worker and at the Human Rights Commission and Owen Glenn Inquiry into domestic abuse.

Davidson officially announced her candidacy at an event in South Auckland’s O¯ tara suburb yesterday.

‘‘I’ve decided to stand for coleader of the Green Party because I am the best placed to build a strong, cohesive and diverse movement to bring about transformative social, environmental and economic change,’’ she said.

‘‘To deliver on all of the Green Party visions and policies that our people and our environment so desperately need, we must return to Parliament in 2020 with much greater numbers and as an even stronger and more significant part of the next Government.’’

Davidson said she was comfortable with being seen as the Leftwing candidate in the race. ‘‘It’s unfortunate that any of us get stuck into one little corner. But it’s also something I’m not scared of being framed as.

‘‘I’m certainly proud of my connections to the very communities who have borne the brunt of all the economic and social failures that this country has seen over the decades.’’

She is also comfortable with the comparisons many will make with regards to the woman she hopes to

‘‘I’ve decided to stand ... because I am the best placed to build a strong, cohesive and diverse movement.’’

Green Party MP Marama Davidson

replace – Turei, who was the party’s co-leader for eight years.

‘‘I understand it. I also think that Metiria was an amazing leader whom I can never be a copy of. We do have commonalities – we were both young mums at university, studying with young children.

Davidson had only been a member of the Green Party a year when Turei first asked her to stand for the Ikaroa-Ra¯ whiti seat in the 2014 election.

‘‘It was an incredible honour. Becoming a politician was not part of my plan. But it was incredibly humbling,’’ she said.

Green Party members will pick their next leader by casting a delegate vote at their local branch.

Other likely contenders include Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage.

Of those three, Davidson is the only Ma¯ ori woman and the only non-minister – although Green Party rules allow any member to stand for the role.

Her position out of Government will help retain the party’s independence, she said.

Davidson decided over the summer break to put her name forward, after discussions with her family about the toll that could come with the job.

A full list of candidates will be announced on February 19. The winner will be named in April.